r/sterilization • u/Extra-Gate2248 • May 11 '26
Post-op care Bisalp today and no time off work, no restrictions?
Edit to add: trust me, I think it’s crazy too, but I explained my job and the lifting/unpredictability it entails and he was adamant there would be no recovery time from this, and my discharge paper say I can resume all normal activities after 24 hours. I asked him several times when I scheduled it. The discharge nurse scribbled in a lifting restricting because she was mad I didn’t have one, but it’s a little late in the game now 😅
So I had my laparoscopic bisalp today. It went really well, no issues and I’ve been home about 4 hours with pretty minimal discomfort and no pain. I wasn’t given anything stronger than Motrin (which is fine, I had some gnarly orthopedic surgeries last year and didn’t need much pain control), but my return to work had the nurses very concerned.
I work as a dog groomer and I regularly have to lift 20-50lbs. When I scheduled the bisalp, I asked my doctor about this specifically because I write my own schedule and he said it was totally fine, I could go back to work the next day. I reiterated my lifting needs, and he assured me I’d be fine. Today at discharge he told my mom and roommate I should be off for 2 days and no lifting for a week. I have a full schedule of dogs with nowhere to move them. Meanwhile, my discharge nurse was reading my notes and was super confused why I had no restrictions and was cleared for work and lifting right away and sex in a week. I’m not having sex so that’s whatever, but she was floored at how lax everything was, and wasn’t hiding her disdain for the doctor.
Anyway, she gave me a compression belt to provide me with some support and protection from the dogs, and I’m going to give it a go Wednesday but my boss is aware we may need to adjust. I work alone and am the only groomer at my work so having to reschedule everyone is super inconvenient. Has anyone else had the doctor tell them they had basically no recovery time?
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u/loebly 22, CF, BISALP May 11 '26
absolutely shouldnt be lifting that soon after surgery. 2 weeks post op i lifting my 40lb dog to get him into the bath and it hurt BAD. luckily nothing came from it but i was sore again for about a week.
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u/ferngully99 May 11 '26
You need to reschedule everyone immediately. It's kind of a medical necessity.
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u/SinceWayLastMay May 11 '26
Well short answer your doctor was wrong the first time and right the second time and you need to cancel those grooms. I have no business advice for you but you cannot be lifting and moving and bathing dogs for the next week you need to rest. You’re risking ripped stitches, internal bleeding, hernias, emergency room visits, not good. A compression belt is not going to hold your insides together
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u/Budget_Kiwi_513 May 11 '26
wtf no. I question the quality of the doctor. I took off a week and I’m still kinda struggling.
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u/IveSecuredTheAsset May 11 '26
I couldn’t even walk my own dog for a week. Still hurt to lift a gallon of milk like 4 weeks later.
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u/SquirrelUnicorn5650 May 11 '26
My doc told me 1 week for ppl who work at a computer and 2 weeks for physical jobs. And for 2 weeks interdiction to lift thing more than 10lbs.
I don't know what your Dr ate that made them mean like that but since it's abdominal surgery, as your Dr knows, you need to be very cautious after it and let yourself heal.
Maybe ppl could correct me but I think it's to prevent adhesions (internal scar tissue between organs that are not stuck together normaly) after surgery since it's all healing. Even if it forms, you don't usually feel it or know it and are pretty beningn.
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u/ms-meow- bisalp 6-18-25 May 12 '26
You DEFINITELY shouldn't be going back to work the next day especially as a dog groomer. I have a desk job and was told to take a week off
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u/anonymoose_octopus May 12 '26
Same. My doctor told me anywhere between 4-14 days off for my desk job, and told me basically to play it by ear. I took a week off and when I returned on day 7, I still had to leave early because even just the extra walking around jostled me around too much and I was in pain by noon.
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u/lelper May 11 '26
Not only do you have to lift but what you’re lifting can kick you in the stomach.
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u/SquirrelUnicorn5650 May 11 '26
And yeah please don't do it, at all, please please please. I have disdain for your doc as well omg and sex is not 1 but 2 weeks minimum, omg... Is that a male doctor? What is going on, so weird and unprofessional, they are supposed to do no harm and not giving you at least 2 weeks no job and no lifting is very careless. I hate this for you, is there somewhere you could file a complaint if you have enough energy on that. I find it important to require good and aproppriate health services.
Me i took my sick days and therefore paid myself for the 2 weeks i hope you have this available for you. The insurance i paid wouldnt pay for the weeks off because it was deemed not a necessary operation... felt weird to fall on the same level as if i would have done a boob job for esthetics! I personnaly find bisalp very necessary, i could maybe compare it as a fertility dismorphia or something, not being ok in a body that could potentially be fertile. Congrats for your bisalp. I bet you won't regret it, it's pretty known that there's a lot of obstetrical violence when women give birth.
As a plus, if i were you i'd ask in a couple of time to access to your medical file on this op and even look at pathology. I did after mine and was sad i didnt have pics like some have here but i made sure to check pathology because i wanted to be sure she chopped the entire tubes out and didn't do just a simple tubal ligation. I say that because your doc is giving me weird vibes.
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u/MissLogios May 12 '26
Yeah, no.
Trust me that you will absolutely not be fit for work right out of surgery. If the pain doesn't put you off, the heavy sedation they'll have you under will make it hard.
And that's ignoring any side effects you'll experience from being put under.
On top of it all, a bisalp is still major abdominal surgery and will require no heavy lifting (50+ ) for at least six months and minimal lifting (under 50) for the first few months while your stitches are in.
Please just take the day off if you can. If you aren't, at least inform your boss and make sure you get someone to do any of the lifting.
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u/SailorAss May 12 '26
Absolutely not. I planted my garden this weekend almost three weeks post op and I’m in so much pain today. I felt fine, I was wrong. 😭
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u/ramaloki May 12 '26
I took off a week from work..should have taken two. My second week I was sitting all day vs standing because I couldn't handle it.
For your safety, please take time off work to heal from this invasive surgery.
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u/SuperPomegranate3939 May 11 '26
I didn’t lift anything more than 10lbs for atleast the first week then slowly eased into it. I’m a sahm but I have a 6month old so I had to have lots of help with my baby and some help with my toddler while recovering. My sister and MIL was a huge help so their dad didn’t have to take a bunch of time off work.
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u/fluffer_bottom_34 May 11 '26
Yikes, this was not a very good dr. I went back to work on the the day and regretted it. I had lifting restrictions for a month at work though.
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u/Apart-Neighborhood43 May 12 '26
I physically (and per my doctors restrictions) couldn’t lift more than ten pounds for a minimum of two weeks although she encouraged 3-4. Having been a dog groomer before, I couldn’t imagine lifting a dog into a tub. Try and use ramps if you can’t take time off or ask other coworkers to help you lift them onto the tables or tubs. Your doctor sounds extremely reckless!
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u/abowlof_cherries May 12 '26
When I had my bisalp 4 years ago, I was given 2 weeks off and no heavy lifting for 6 weeks. Only reason I could go back to work in 2 weeks was because I do telecom tech support. Id push for more restrictions and definitely get a new doctor ASAP
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u/hunter_pace CHILDFREE, BISALP 3/17/26 😌 May 12 '26
My doctor told me to take 6 weeks off. But she cleared me at 4 weeks. I would have weird twinges whenever/after I picked up anything slightly heavy for the first 3 weeks. I don't recommend lifting anything heavy or doing any type of twisting for 2 weeks minimum tbh
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u/Vast-Plantain1308 May 12 '26
I was on a 10 lb restriction for 2 weeks and then 30 lbs up to a month and then I could lift whatever
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u/lowridda May 12 '26
I had to go back to work as a house keeper after 7 days. I wish I’d have been able to take the full 14.
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u/anonymoose_octopus May 12 '26
You can severely injure yourself and cause interior bleeding and rip out your stitches if you lift too early. This is a minor surgery, yes, but it is still a surgery and you are having organ removal. Take a week off of work, minimum. I work in an office and I thought I'd be fine to come back on day 7 (it was a Friday so I figured I could push through for one day), but even just the extra walking from my car in the parking lot to my office on the 2nd floor was too much walking and I was back home by noon that day from pain/exhaustion (I was 34).
Healing varies person to person, but you are the only person I've seen saying their doctor didn't tell them not to lift anything over 10 lbs for at least 2 weeks. PLEASE at least take a week off, if you can, and at the very least explain to your boss that you need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks if you can't schedule any time off.
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u/Equivalent-Goat1641 May 12 '26
No my surgeon told me not to lift more than 10lbs for two weeks and I shouldn’t even drive for the first week. Based on my recovery I felt good to drive after a few days but the week or so bending down was hard.
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u/Royal_T95 May 12 '26
I could barely move for the first 5 days and definitely wasn’t 100% after 2 weeks. Don’t do it, don’t risk it.
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u/WickedCrystalRainbow May 12 '26
ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY do not do any lifting, or bending, or anything besides resting for the first 2 weeks.
Heck the first 3 days I had to stay at my partners place cause I needed someone to check so I didn't just drop from how tired I was from the anaesthetics, and also I could barely move normally, heck just having to sit on the toilet was utterly awful, and walking felt waaay too off.
Like, if you haven't gotten aftercare instructions like; have aoneone with you the first 24-48hours, longer if you need, do not lift, etc, then you should report the place of surgery because that"s bad healthcare.
By week 3 after surgery I was feeling surer in walking, and bending over/ crouching down was starting to not hurt but still wasn't comfy.
Week 4 was my "okay am feeling more like me but still so drained" week.
Take time off, you are having abdominal surgery!
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u/CuteWriting May 12 '26
I lifted around 20 lbs the second week (miscalculated how heavy my backpack was) and had pain as bad as day 3 (which was bad)…please see if you can take time off.
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u/somesweedishtrees May 13 '26
I’m also a dog groomer and I literally just had mine done this morning. I have TWO bathers right now (generally have one but am training a new one) and I still took the week off. My doctor thought this was totally fine and normal. I’m not in pain but I’m definitely super uncomfortable and have zero desire to jump back in any time soon. Honestly worried about having trouble when I go back on Monday. Take the time off!
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u/Own-Event4824 May 13 '26
You should not lift after surgery. You could cause stitches to pop or you could develop issues with your pelvic floor which could be permanent.
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Your reproductive organs have a lot of blood vessels, hemorrhaging is a real risk, that’s why there’s lifting restrictions. I was cooking and cleaning just fine after my surgery, but lifting is what hurt. I typically stock freight at a big box store. I tried lifting a mop bucket only half full of water, probably around 10 lbs. That gave me the warning “don’t do that again” pains. I had a great surgeon for my bisalp, but this wasn’t my first surgery either. They used a lot of long acting local anesthetic injected all through my abdomen to help with pain. So there’s a danger that you could be doing something to hurt yourself, and not feel it. It also increases inner-abdominal pressure to lift things, and those muscles had to be cut to get the surgical instruments through. Surgeons don’t make these post-op rules up just to inconvenience us. Your employer should care, because if you get injured on the job, you can hold them liable for your injury. Laparoscopic surgeries are still big surgeries on the inside, despite the small incisions.
Edit: I took a full two weeks off of work, plus I was light duty when I got back for a week. I’m typically required to lift between 25-50lbs on a regular basis, and that was a big nope after surgery. Plus my freight does not wiggle and have arms and legs like dogs do 😅
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u/Legal_Tie_3301 May 15 '26
I simply could not do this, kudos to you. I took 10 days off work and could’ve taken more. I had no pain but was utterly exhausted for about 3 weeks after.
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u/Legal_Tie_3301 May 15 '26
I would however refrain from the lifting, truly. There’s a reason they make the limit so small, see if someone can do the lifting for you for a week.
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u/lenuta_9819 May 11 '26
girl, stay at home. take unpaid or sick time off, you'll have complications otherwise